Canary Goat DNA Reveals Ancient Origins
A doctoral thesis by Clara Díaz at the University of La Laguna has unveiled that the current goats in the Canary Islands share identical genetics with those brought by the islands’ first settlers from North Africa. This research, titled Paleogenomic Analysis of Domesticates of the Indigenous People of the Canary Islands, highlights a significant discovery in the biological history of the archipelago.
The study confirms that the Canary pre-Hispanic goat has maintained a remarkable genetic continuity from the Roman era to the present day. Employing cutting-edge paleogenomic and bioinformatics techniques, the research asserts that these goats are the only remaining members of the original “Neolithic package,” which included pigs and sheep, and have largely remained unchanged despite significant historical and demographic shifts in the islands.
Díaz’s research involved the analysis of 344 samples, including teeth, bones, and horns, from 33 archaeological sites across the archipelago. Notably, the examination of remains from the Roman site on Lobos Island helped establish a timeline dating back to the beginning of the common era.
While the genetic makeup of the human population has radically transformed since the Spanish conquest in the 15th century, due to interbreeding with European colonisers and African populations, the Canary goats have remained stable. The study suggests that local goat breeds adapted exceptionally well to the islands’ unique environment, proving more resilient than the European breeds introduced after colonisation.
Although there was some European genetic contribution post-15th century, this has gradually diminished over the centuries. The natural selection favoured the indigenous traits, enhancing their ability to survive in the challenging island terrain. “The goats we see today in the valleys and farms are genetically the same as those brought by the ancients,” said Díaz, emphasising their role as “biological time capsules.”
The thesis positions the Canary Islands as a unique “laboratory” for global paleogenomics, providing a valuable glimpse into the Iron Age DNA of North Africa, particularly due to the scarcity of preserved biological remains on the continent.
In contrast to the resilient goats, the history of sheep in the Canary Islands highlights the limits of biological adaptation. The indigenous hair sheep, well-suited to the semi-arid climate, faced hardship post-conquest when European wool sheep were introduced. Efforts to crossbreed led to their decline, resulting in the near extinction of the original hair sheep.
Interestingly, today’s hair sheep in the Canary fields do not descend from those that survived the 15th century but instead come from breeds brought from Venezuela in the 1950s, which are ironically descendants of the original Canarian sheep exported to the New World centuries earlier.
Díaz’s thesis, awarded a cum laude distinction, was evaluated by researchers including Fabián Lorenzo from ULL, Laura Botigué from the Agrigenomics Research Centre in Spain, and Laura Parolín from Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council.
